How to Faux Paint a Tin Ceiling

A. Debby Travis' Painted house did a show on this recently and you can get the instructions from her website (just do a search for Debby Travis on the internet) -- but essentially -- she painted the anaglypta wallpaper with a roller (latex paint) and then took a different colour and applied it just to the "raised pattern bits" by dabbing off much of the colour and then just brushing the sponge, ever so lightly, until the raised part had accepted the colour. Debby then went over with a paint brush and highlighted individual parts of the pattern with an artist's paint brush -- but this wouldn't really be necessary...It looked really nice!

A. Hi Cory: You are probably long since finished, but for future reference you can basecoat with any number of waterborne metallic finishes (McCloskey, Sheffield [affil links], Crescent Bronze [affil links], and Modern Masters [affil links] are all pretty good). You can get your desired shade of copper by adding a little silver and some red. You needn't buy whole quarts of metallic for shadings: go to your local hobby shop and get 2 oz containers of airbrush colors for $1 to $4 ea.

Apply the basecoat with either a 50/50 lambswool/fiber blend roller cover 1/2" nap [affil links] which will allow you take out the roller lines, or if you want it super smooth, brush it on with a good Wooster paint brush [affil links] or Purdy nylon/polyester brush [affil links]. An angle sash brush will allow you to go fast and do tricks like swirling.

When the basecoat dries, you can either accent with a bright gold, or take a 1/8" mohair roller cover [affil links] and it will leave paint just on the raised portions. Sheffield will send you a complete chart of available metallic colors. McCloskey only makes 4 or 5, but they accept additional tinting better. Good luck.

A. I used paintable wallpaper anaglypta ⇦ on eBay or Amazon [affil links] for about $10 a double roll. They have one design that actually looks liked old tin when painted. The design is raised and it is very authentic looking.

A. I have used the anaglypta ⇦ on eBay or Amazon [affil links] (embossed wallpaper). I work at Home Depot in blinds & wallpaper dept. The designer & I displayed the papers on 4 x 8 sheets of plywood & had them hung to show different ways to paint embossed paper. We painted one silver, one copper & and one to look like brass, using the Ralph Lauren metallics in the quart jars. The panels turn out beautiful. We also washed 1/2 of each board with paint to resemble tarnished metals. They hung in the store for 3-5 mos. People would pass and say look at the tin ceilings. We were very pleased with our results. We used the paper with the 6 x 6 inch square design. I am going to use the bigger square (12 x 12) for my ceiling in dining room at my 120 yr. old cottage.

PS: we used teal color wash for copper, black for the silver & brownish for brass. looked very real.

Thanks,

A. I also lived in a old Victorian home and redid the bathroom. I wanted a tin ceiling in there and I tried the apron ⇦ on eBay or Amazon [affil links] embossed wallpaper on the ceiling. I did have some trouble getting the paper to stick but used staples also. I was concerned about the seams and how they would look so after I hung the paper and painted it with the metal paints, I trimmed all the edges and all the seams with a one inch trim board which was painted the same color. It turned out wonderful. I got so many comments saying how real it looked.

A. I just finished two rooms in my home with the embossed, tin-looking wallpaper and it turned out awesome. I cut the wallpaper which was 6"x6" squares into 4 by 4 squares (resembling tin plates) which I could handle easily by myself when hanging. I found the paper on eBay for 9 bucks a roll. I also found the ceiling texture was a big factor for the pre-pasted wallpaper to adhere properly (also when they say to soak the paper for 5 seconds take 10 and only let sit 3 to five minutes for booking). The flatter or non textured, the better and easier. I wallpapered over one ceiling with that had that sand additive for texture in the paint, and had lots of trouble making the squares match up. Solution, white caulking on the spots that lifted from the ceiling and two coats of paint. Looks great. I had to write back after finishing my project, because I used a lot of good advice from you all!

A. Hi, Rebecca. I have not done this myself, but priming with the Shieldz Wallcovering Primer seems like exactly the correct way to do this project. I am not familiar with what you used for adhesive for the ceiling tiles, and maybe that is the problem? You probably need an instant-setting adhesive, not something that tacks up in a few hours.

Regards,

A. Easy to do!
Armstrong sells a staple up embossed ceiling tile 12 x 12 or 24 x 24 that can go directly onto bottom of studs, you can also buy a trackless hidden mounting system (I have done both ways, it is way faster to use the system if doing a large area)

Armstrong also sells almost the same tile in system designed for standard drop ceiling grids

Both tiles styles are paintable and look wonderful done with aluminum paint (1 coat only - looks a bit dull, helps to hid any imperfections)

These tiles can be ordered directly from Armstrong or the stores.

A. Floor joists will probably be on 16" centers rather than 12" or 24", so it seems you would still need furring strips rather than stapling directly to the floor joists. But if otherwise, please explain. Thanks.

A. A ceiling look can be obtained with paint. You would have to pick what type of metallic paint you would like the tone to be and a stencil with what decorative design you'd like. It would be time consuming, but it can be done. You'd start with the metallic paint. Painting the whole ceiling... then lining up your squares, taping them off if you want the squares showing.. Then color washing the ceiling in either a brassy dark tone of antique black ... depending on the color of your metallic. Then stencil your squares with metallic again with a light roller. When done color wash lightly.
It can be done.

A. I decor8 for a living and they have come out with Tin looking wallpapers that are already painted. Bronze, Gold, copper, silver, pewter, greens, reds blues and yellows
Warner wall coverings have these. Oh they make my life so much easier... These papers are really pretty. Any paint or wallpaper store that carry catalogs of wallpaper books can order these for you.
Good luck and you will love papered ceilings. Do not forget to size your ceilings first. That way the seams do not open and shrink. Then you can remove it later on down the line.
Best to you

Lillian Weist
- Nashville, Tennessee

A. My home is an updated Victorian (approximately 120 years old); although the styling has changed considerably over the years. The interior style is French Farmhouse. The kitchen was added about 25 years ago. It's a large, open area with pantries only ~ no overhead cabinets. The finish on the pantry doors is dark oak and due to the volume of surface area, it would really save my budget to create interest to the ceiling rather than the cabinetry. I've decided on a tin ceiling look. (I would love to have real metal, but I don't want the kitchen noise to bounce around the room.) The wonderful faux, metal-look products on the market today are the solution! Since I'm a copper collector, I've decided to go with an antique copper finish. I hope my "closet designer" ideas will encourage others to consider faux tin ceiling [affil links] finishes, too.

A. I live in a mobile home that has the typical "daisy head" screws and wood strips on the ceiling. Two years ago I replaced all the screws with 1-1/4" sheet rock screws and taped the seams using sheet rock mud to cover the heads and seams. I then thinned the mud and did a half moon swirl design with a brush attached to an ice pick. I measured so as to have a uniform look. It turned out great and helped to cover the imperfections in the existing ceiling. The only room I did not do was my bathroom. I have decided to create a faux ceiling tin with sheet rock mud. I am in the process of prep work now and am excited to get started. I plan to use stencils designed for sculpturing that I purchased at Lowes. I will measure the space into 12x12 grid using string to pop the lines onto the ceiling. It will be a 2 phase project with the 1st stencil creating the tile block using a 12" spreader to create a smooth surface. After that dries, I will go back over each "tile" with the decorative stencil then paint in a silver and burnish with a diluted black paint. It will be a time consuming project, but my hopes are high that it will turn out great.

A. Hi Susan, I had the same problem but I found the English anaglypta paper at fyhome.com. It was delivered promptly without any problems.

A. For faux tin ceilings on drop ceilings, use the embossed wallpaper (apron ⇦ on eBay or Amazon [affil links] ). Adhere to the ceiling tiles using outdoor carpet glue and disposable brushes. Cut the paper slightly larger than the tile then trim with scissors. Be sure to let the glue get tacky ( 15 to 20 min) before putting on the paper. I use those light fiberglass tiles with the shiny surface and the paper sticks with no problem. If you use paper with 12" by 12" look squares you need to be sure you line them up straight and in the same pattern on each 2x2 or 2x4 tile so the lines match when you put up the tiles. Paint the grids the same color as you plan to paint the paper such as silver or copper. Use a small roller. Good luck